The Story

This is a story about a fearless politician and his devoted followers. With an army of young people hoping for change, he uses mimes, pencils, flashmobs and superhero costumes to attack the corruption and violence in Colombia. A young woman falls in love with the movement, but to change a society penetrated by illegality, turns out to be much more difficult than she ever anticipated.

What this means for Colombia

For two generations we have been bombarded with stories about the evils of Colombia. The image has been one of drug lords, guerrilla groups, paramilitaries, and corrupted politicians that rule over citizens and society. If you are from Colombia, you probably want to share a positive story of change. Share this other face of Colombia, the one of hard working people, who tirelessly struggle for a real democracy..

What this means for the world

If you are from any other country, you probably want this story to inspire your own politicians and prove that a peaceful change is possible, without corruption and violence.

Our goal is to open up the debate about morals and politics, not just in Colombia, but everywhere.

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"Trust everywhere, life is much better if we can trust in everybody around us"

Antanas Mockus

Our CHARACTERS

If you care about politics, you may have a dream that societies can become truly democratic. That politicians are honest; that politics can be fair. But then, you may be considered a hopeless dreamer. Or not?

Antanas Mockus

Mockus claims, that to change a country, we must change ourselves first. He took his philosophy to the streets.

As mayor, Mockus replaced the traffic police with mimes. He introduced a vaccine against violence, and a curfew for men. And he brought down violence by 70%. He introduced voluntary taxation, which 63,000 people opted for. In 2010 he ran for president, and became the leader of the Colombian opposition, and we followed him at every step as he struggled to change his country.

Katherine Miranda

Katherine grew up in Bogota while Mockus was the mayor of the city. Since she was a child she has followed his creative campaigns and experienced their effect on the city. Murder rate fell by 70% during Mockus' term as mayor.

In 2010, Antanas runs for president andKatherine is 22 years old. Filled with energy and youthful enthusiasm, she heads a crowd of young and hopeful volunteers who dream about a new country. They were 6 when they started. Soon they will be thousands.

THE COLOMBIAN PEOPLE

Colombia has suffered from the armed conflict since the 60’s. Left-wing guerrilla groups have had control over vast areas of the country. They use violence, kidnappings and extortion against the civil society. In 2002 president Álvaro Uribe pushed the war to far-away jungle regions, with huge popular support.

But peace had come at a price. Human rights violations surged. Internal refugees grew in the millions. Corruption exploded. In 2010 Antanas Mockus reappears in politics with an anti-corruption and peaceful message. Citizens stand up by his side.

THE FILM MAKERS

Andreas Dalsgaard

Director

Andreas Dalsgaard first film was the ficture short "Copenhagen" which won 1st. prize as the worlds best graduation film. "Afghan Muscles" (2007) was his first documentary, which became a festival hit and won the American Film Institute Grand Prix. "Bogota Change" (2009) premiered at IDFA, and has been shown in more than 20 countries. Many people who appear in "Life is Sacred" were also featured in this film, which focus on the Antanas Mockus work as Mayor of Bogota. "Traveling with Mr. T" is an experimental hybrid feature doc which premiered at Copenhagen Dox in 2012. Feature documentary "The Human Scale" premiered in early 2013 to critical applause and a worldwide cinema release and festival tour.

Andreas Dalsgaards work has a strong focus on issues of social and cultural change, and is based on his background as an anthropologist. .

Signe Byrge

Producer

Signe is CEO & Producer at Final Cut for Real. Signe has been a producer for 14 years. She began in SPOR Media in 1998, moved to Final Cut Productions ApS in 2004 and founded Final Cut for Real ApS in 2009. Her focus is on documentaries, and she has, besides several productions in Denmark and Sweden, produced documentaries in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Thailand, and Argentina. Signe holds a MA degree in International Development Studies and Communication Studies from Roskilde University, Denmark.

Anne KÖhncke

Producer

Anne has been a producer at Final Cut for Real since June 2009. She has previously worked as Commissioning Editor for documentaries at DR2, Danish Broadcasting Corporation and as Sales Executive at TV2 World, selling international documentaries. She holds a MA degree in Film Studies from the University of Copenhagen, specialized in the financing of documentaries in the Nordic countries, and has worked with Nordisk Forum for Co-financing of Documentaries for 6 years.

Janus Billeskov Jansen

EDITOR

Janus Billeskov Jansen entered the Danish film industry in 1970 and in 1973 he was editor in charge on a feature film for the first time. He has edited a large number of internationally acknowledged feature films and documentaries, and directed numerous Danish documentaries. Since 1979 he has been teaching editing and narratology at The National Film School of Denmark. Janus has cooperated with most of the influential Danish directors in the past 30 years; most significant is the lifelong creative relationship with the Academy Award winning director Bille August.

Nicolás Servide Staffolani

Co-director / EDITOR

Nicolás is an Argentinean-born film maker. After studying sound design in Dublin, he got a Visual Communication degree from Universitat Pompeu Fabra of Barcelona and Roskilde Universitet in Denmark, where he specialized in narrative structures. Since 2009 he lives and work in Copenhagen as a film editor, with a strong focus on documentary storytelling. He has worked closely with Andreas Dalsgaard since 2010 in “Life is Sacred” as well as in his other films “The Human Scale” and “ReDane”

Viviana Gómez Echeverry

Co-director / Photographer

Viviana Gómez Echeverry is a colombian screenwriter and director. Studied Social Communication at the Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, where she found her passion for the camera and traveled to Spain to specialize herself in cinematography. She returned to Colombia and was involved as photographer in different documentaries as “The Eternal Night of Twelve Moons”, prized in several film festivals. But the camera was not enough; she became interested in stories and wanted to claim her point of view. She directed two short films and a documentary and is currently developing her first feature film “Meridian 81”